Eagle Falls near George, SA

Eagle Falls

As a suburban homeschooler, I often wonder if our kids are getting enough country life as part of their education. “It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth” is one of those verses I think on, and wonder if our kids have it too cushy. This little stay at Eagle Falls gave our kids some “rough stuff” in their lives. Our kids climbed right up the wall of this waterfall.

This is the type of place resorts like Disney World are trying to imitate, but it is all natural, the real McCoy!

On our first hike here, we found a cave.

Dawn over the veld.



We are 3 kilometers from a decent gravel road, and I think 12 kilometers from tar, way out in the boonies. We have to hike 2.2 km’s to find cell phone reception. It is hard for Paul to make it to his appointments on time, but what a beautiful place to stay. Our car didn’t survive the rough roads and had to be fixed for 4 different things! So Paul rented this little “Herbie” while our Green Machine was getting fixed. I figure the Hippy-hop Beetle Hire will appreciate the advertising.

I just totally got the giggles imagining my tall, dignified husband going to preach in schools, stepping out of his “Hippy-hop Beetle”. But it was a good deal and rather a rare treat to drive a 31 year old VW.

The Garden Route

The Garden Route in South Africa is pure pretty. This view from the mountaintop where we’re staying shows the little town of Great Brak along the coast of the Indian Ocean.

May 5, 2009

We get to see all this gorgeous scenery, but there’s a reason behind it all. We’re trying to draw others to Christ. Jesus said, “And I, “If I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” He was lifted up. He died on a cross, which is not a nice way to be lifted up, but He paid for our sins by His death. He didn’t deserve to die, His was a sacrificial death. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

So we want to lift Him up in another way, to let everybody know that He cares for them, that He wants them to be His children, followers of Him, and obedient to Him. I’d love to help someone reading our blog to come into the Kingdom.

He is God the Creator of this sunrise! He deserves our praise and worship, and I just can’t help it when I see a sunrise like this.

We have 2 of the friendliest little “burritos” you’ve ever seen, right in front of our cottage on the mountaintop above Great Brak.

Timmy’s doing Footprints on our Land, a South African curriculum which teaches SA history from 1488 to 1902. He built a little Lego fort as we read about the first fort at Cape Town.

The perfect field trip came along: the Bartholomew Dias Museum in Mossel Bay. The full size remake of Dias’s ship was the highlight, but none of my pictures of that came out so great so here is an impressive model made out of sugar!

I just loved the stained glass windows with history lessons in them.
The maps were way beyond functional, true works of art.

We also did a hike to a Dam.

Here’s our hikers as we began:




And here’s our hikers as we arrived at the dam.

We still had to go up 434 steps to view the dam from the top.




And then all the back down, and down the trail to get out. It was quite a workout, but very satisfying.